


Three Lost Kids, Two Minute Noodles and One Hot Mate.

by MysticEdge



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alive Hale Family, Alive Laura Hale, Cute Kids, Hospitals, Kid Fic, M/M, Mates, Meet-Cute, Romance, promptfill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-01
Updated: 2018-03-01
Packaged: 2019-03-25 15:45:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13837941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MysticEdge/pseuds/MysticEdge
Summary: Request 2 by RoscoesCamaroSummaryStiles is leaving a local store and he notices a toddler wandering the parking lot by himself. worried for the childs safety he rushes to him to discover the child had wandered away from his mother’s mini van. Doors are wide open. Upon closer inspection looks like there are 2 more kids in the car crying because the mother is laying face down in the back. Like she passed out after putting 2 of the 3 kids in the car. Frantic he calls his father while checking to see if the mother is breathing.The mother is Laura Hale. No Hale fire, Derek is still weary with people as Kate attempted to set the fire but was thwarted. Stiles meets Derek for the first time when he’s called to the hospital for Laura and the children.





	Three Lost Kids, Two Minute Noodles and One Hot Mate.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [RoscoesCamaro](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoscoesCamaro/gifts).



Stiles is in the middle of writing his thesis when he realises that his flat is practically devoid of food and he’s starving.

There’s a supermarket within walking distance so Stiles goes scrounging through his apartment, lifting couch cushions, searching through his pants pockets and key bowl to find abandoned coins and whatever spare change he can. When he’s got a suitable handful, he locks the door behind him and heads on over to the store.

At the very least he can afford a pack of tw- minute noodles for the time being until he gets paid for the three shifts he did in Olive and Twist, the bar where he works at in town. It’s a good way to clear his head a little too since he’s gotten a little stuck in his research at the moment.

The store is mostly busy with old people and stay-at-home mothers, the kind of people who don’t really have day jobs. People like Stiles- a long-suffering and perpetually starving college student. 

When he walks into the noodle aisle, it turns out to be his lucky day because his favourite brand is on sale and he can afford to buy two six packs instead of one. He wastes no time in grabbing them, stacking one on top the other as he hugs them to his chest; grinning to himself and licking his lips as he can almost taste the hot soup already.

He’s humming to himself, waiting in the line for the cashier when he sees a little brown-haired head poking up over the automatic sliding doors. It’s a little kid. A toddler. And Stiles watches him for a moment, mystified by the fact that there’s no one else out there in the parking lot and the kid looks very much alone.

“You have to put the items down for me to scan them,” says the young-looking cashier in a bored voice.

Stiles startles at being addressed and realises he’s been clutching the noodles to his chest for some time now and hastily sets them down, dumping all of his change into the cashiers outstretched hand.

The guy’s mouth quirks as he starts counting to check that Stiles has given the right amount but Stiles pays him no mind as he is already looking back outside for the kid again, hoping his parent has miraculously appeared.

Only now the little kid is gone. Nodding to the cashier, Stiles grabs the bag full of his poor health choices and darts outside, feeling a little nervous at this kid’s expense. They’d have to be around two or three at most and that is not the kind of age where they should be walking around unattended.

He finds the toddler quickly enough. The little kid hasn’t gotten too far away since the he is only a little bit steadier on his feet than Stiles is after a night drinking. He glances around the parking lot for an adult, anyone really, because he knows it’s gonna look much creepier for him to be approaching an unattended child, even if he looks like he’s still a student himself.

Stiles is just thinking that maybe he should head back into the store and alert a manager there or better yet just call his dad, when the toddler overbalances a little and turns back, catching sight of Stiles approaching.

The little kid offers a toothy kind of grin, that’s not as concerned as Stiles was expecting. He assumed the kid would be crying or at the very least upset to be on his own. Stiles keeps a few paces away so as not to freak him out and waves hello. The kid waves back.

“Hey there little man,” Stiles says carefully keeping his tone light. “Where’s your parents?”

The kid pushes his finger up to his lips and shushes Stiles as proudly as a librarian would. “Shhhhh Mommy’s sleeping.”

That’s definitely not something he thought the kid would say.

“I’m Stiles. What’s your name?”

The little boy points at his chest, as if it’s a gesture he’s practised a lot. Maybe in day care or something.

“I’m Jakey,” the kid says, which Stiles presumes to mean his name is Jake.

“Hey Jakey, nice to meet you,” he says, adjusting his bag in his arms. “Do you know where your mom is? How 'bout you lead me over to her and we can say hello?”

Of all the things he’s expecting, it’s not for the kid to give him a considering look before sniffing him.

“Okay,” Jake says and marches off determinedly into the parking lot.

Bewildered, Stiles hurries after him, wondering if he should already be calling his father or child services. And did that kid really just sniff him first?

When they reach the far end of the lot and there’s parked minivan with its doors wide open and Stiles gets a little suspicious, thinking this could be some kind of trick to lure him in. 

That is until he sees the prone form of a woman with the same exact dark hair as Jake. She’s half collapsed in the van with her groceries still sitting in a trolley beside it and two other small children already strapped in the back.

These two kids seem a lot more distressed than Jake is because they’re crying.

Dropping his bag of noodles, Stiles mutters a very bad word and half climbs into the van in order to gently turn the woman on her side to check her airways are clear. To his surprise her face and the top of her blouse are covered in a film of purple powder.

Stiles says another bad word and fumbles for his phone to call an ambulance.

“Sheriff's Department. What’s your emergency?”

“I’m in the parking lot of the Holiday Quality Foods in Beacon Hills on fifth avenue and there’s a woman here who is unconscious in her car and there’s three children unsupervised.”

The woman sounds calm and level headed, two things of which Stiles is not. “We are sending an ambulance to your location. It should be there within ten minutes. Is the car unlocked? Are you able to see if the children or the woman are in immediate danger?”

“The car doors half opened, I found one of the kids wandering the parking lot. I think- I think the woman was drugged or attacked. It looks like someone threw some powder in her face and that’s what knocked her out. I’ve put her on her side to clear her airway and she seems to be breathing alright.”

“An ambulance will arrive shortly to provide medical assistance.”

“Thank you,” Stiles starts to say when he sees the cell phone near the unconscious woman’s head and hears the faint sound of someone shouting over it.

The name reads Derek and Stiles picks up the phone while he starts wiping away the powder on her face with his sleeve with his other hand. She’s still breathing fine but is just knocked out, like this strange purple powder is some kind of drug.

“Hello?” Stiles says a little frantic when he picks up her phone. “You don’t know me but I’m standing here in the parking lot with a woman unconscious and her three children, and there’s some kind of freaky powder on her face- she’s breathing- but she was calling you and I’ve called an ambulance but now I’m gonna call the cops okay.”

“No cops,” the man named Derek snaps into the phone. “Who the hell is this?”

“Who the hell is this?” Stiles counters, glancing over at Jake who it seems is wrinkling his nose too and trying to stick his hands into some of the grocery bags for some of the goodies in them.

“Hey Jakey,” Stiles says, putting the phone away from his ear for a second. “Did someone throw that powder in your mom’s face or something?”

The kid gets a really solemn expression on his face. “The bad men,” he agrees.

Stiles gets a really terrible feeling even as he’s dialling his father. Is this something gang related? The unconscious woman just looks like a regular mother.

“I said no cops!” the Derek guy barks in his ear, sounding panicked and enraged even though Stiles only just started dialling them. How did he know that? Did he guess? “Where are you? Where is Laura parked?”

The aggressive tone on the guy makes Stiles pretty certain that he doesn’t want to meet in person. What if he was an accidental call. What if he’s one of the bad guys Jake was talking about?

“Look dude, I have no idea who you are, and this lady clearly looks like she’s been attacked so I’m calling the police. My dad’s the sheriff he’ll...“

“Stilinski?” Derek echoes, in a completely different tone. 

“Yeah.”

“Call him,” he demands and damn is he pushy for a stranger on the phone that Stiles has never met. “And put me on the phone with Jake.”

Stiles hesitates for half a second but miraculously the kid figures out what’s going on, on his own and reaches out his little grabby hands.

“Daddy,” he calls, and Stiles doesn’t have the time to wonder how he knew who was calling before he’s passing it to Jake, picking him up and strapping him into a seat so he can’t go wandering off.

The other kids are still crying and Stiles is going to have to climb into the car if he wants to calm them down. Which is exactly what he starts trying to do, trying to keep close enough to Laura to watch if any of her vitals change or if she starts to wake up.

“Stiles?”

He remembers suddenly that he called his dad and his phone is still pressed to his ear.

“Dad I’m in the parking lot of Quality Foods and there’s this lady passed out in her car with three little kids.”

“Did you call an ambulance?”

“Yeah, they’re coming now, but I think she was attacked and drugged,” he mutters, deliberately lowering his voice so none of the kids can hear or panic.

“I’m on my way,” Sheriff Stilinski determines and Stiles exhales a shaky breath of relief. “Keep on the lookout. The attackers might have wanted to take the children but got interrupted.”

A shiver passes over Stiles’ spine but he promises to look out as he glances over at Jake who is happily chatting to his father on the phone.

Stiles gets closer to the other kids and tries to make soothing sounds to calm them down. They’re younger than Jake is, and one is much more distressed than the other so Stiles unclips her from the baby seat and takes her into his arms, rocking gently and trying to remember how to settle kids from the last family barbeque they had where he was looking after his baby cousin.

Amazingly, the little girl in his arms settles at once and the other boy strapped into the other baby seat, wraps a hand around Stiles’ finger and seems to calm down as well.

Whoa, does Stiles have magic baby powers he didn’t know about?

He glances over at Jake, wondering what his father must be talking about when the kid says. “It’s okay daddy he’s ours.”

Stiles blinks because the kid was very clearly looking at him when he spoke, and maybe the father was concerned about the stranger now sitting in the car holding his children and watching his unconscious wife.

Jake grins at him and Stiles manages a weak smile back, flushing to think what the scary sounding dad is going to think of his being here. And why in the hell his kid is saying Stiles is theirs. It’s not like he’s some pet rock the kid picked up on the side of the road or something.

The ambulance arrives about two minutes before Stiles sees his father’s police cruiser turning into the parking lot. The paramedics are quick and efficient, though they seem a little confused when they rub smelling salts under Laura’s nose and she still doesn’t wake up. 

They ask Stiles a few questions, how long she’s been unconscious, whether he was exposed to the same powder and Stiles shows off his sleeve somewhat sheepishly but informs them he feels totally fine, though he’s careful to keep his hand covered in the powder away from the baby girl in his arms.

When they move Laura onto a stretcher, Jake starts getting agitated.

“It’s okay,” Stiles says quickly. “They’re going to help your mom. She’s going to be fine. Can I talk to your dad for a second?”

Jake nods and gives the cell phone back, though his hand ends up clutching at the fabric of Stiles’ jeans so he has to awkwardly manoeuvre himself to get the phone back up to his ear. The little boy is still holding one of his fingers and the baby girl is practically asleep on his chest and the paramedics don’t even blink at him, seeming to think they’re his own kids or something.

Stiles’ face is red when he gets the phone in position.

“Hey so the ambulance and my dad are here,” he explains. “They’re taking her to Beacon Hills Hospital and I can get my dad to bring the kids over to the hospital.”

“Don’t let them out of your sight,” Derek says firmly. “I’m on my way.”

“On your way here or to the hospital?” Stiles asks, feeling nervous about meeting this guy. He sounds like he could rip Stiles’ head off with his bare hands.

“I’m on my way,” the guy repeats unhelpfully and then hangs up of all things.

Stiles glares down at Laura’s phone for a moment before setting it down in the van.

“Stiles?” comes his dad’s voice as he approaches the van and Stiles is kind of stuck between the three kids now without their mother and this is the most bizarre thing to happen to him in a while.

“Um,” Stiles says awkwardly. “This isn’t what it looks like?”

The sheriff frowns at him. “I thought you were holing up in your apartment all week to work on your thesis?”

“I came for reinforcements,” Stiles admits, gesturing at the bag of noodles he’d dropped when he saw Laura’s unconscious form. “And well- all of this.”

“Okay kids,” says Deputy Fowler. “If you come with us we’ll...“

Jake growls. Actually growls. Stiles blinks at him in surprise and glances at his father who is starting to frown.

“Here,” deputy Fowler says, climbing into the van and opening his arms so that he can take the baby off of Stiles’ hands.

Stiles barely manages to hand her over, and watch the deputy climb back outside before the little girl suddenly starts bawling. The other little boy lets out a distressed noise and grabs Stiles’ finger tighter so he moves to unclip him from the seat and lifts him into his arms as well. Jake stubbornly refuses to let go of his leg.

“Give Kelly back,” Jake snarls at the deputy, and his grip on Stiles’ tightens to something a little bit painful.

“Oh,” says the Sheriff with some surprise as he watches Jake’s face. “You’re the Hale kids.”

He glances over where they’re loading up Laura into the ambulance and seems to recognise her. “Laura,” he says, immediately pulling out his cell phone. “I need to call Deaton.”

“The vet Scott worked for in high school?” Stiles demands, rubbing the back of the little boy who’s currently in his arms. “It’s okay, it’s okay...“

He realises suddenly that he doesn’t know the little boy’s name. 

“Noah,” Jake whispers helpfully and Stiles finally notices that Jake isn’t just holding onto his leg, he’s standing in front of Stiles like he’s protecting him.

Kelly lets out a shriek and the deputy quickly hands her over to Stiles’ dad, but she still won’t settle.

The ambulance closes and the paramedics are climbing into the car to take their mother away and Jake finally starts to cry.

“It’s okay,” Stiles says frantically, startled when Jake buries his face into his leg.

“Stiles we need to get them out of here,” his father says, trying his best to calm the baby Kelly. “Before they cause a scene.”

What the hell is that supposed to mean? Stiles shoots his father an offended look, but manages to encourage Jake out of the van, still holding Noah who seems to have relaxed a lot since Stiles picked him up.

He catches sight of the shopping bags and sees what Jake was trying to get his hands on earlier. And well, Stiles isn’t above bribery. He reaches in and manages to pull one out of the plastic packaging.

“Hey Jake want a juice?”

Jake stops crying at once, eagerly reaching out to accept the prize. Kelly is still crying when Stiles has made sure to calm Jake down and awkwardly reaches out with his last arm.

“Here,” he says, gesturing that his dad should give her back.

Stiles had the magic touch before and he’s willing to try again if it’ll help. His father looks surprised for a moment before he gently places Kelly back into his arms. And she stops crying immediately.

Both the deputy and his father give him a considering look and Stiles flushes all the way up to his hairline.

“Let’s get these kids back to their mom,” he mutters, quickly changing the subject.

By that point Jake has managed to get the straw into his juice and is happily sucking away before he wanders back and takes a hold of Stiles’ pant leg again.

This does not escape anyone’s notice. Stiles wonders if he became a kid magnet without realising.

“I guess kids like me?” he counters sounding as bewildered as he feels.

Laura’s handbag is lying on the ground, so the deputy goes and scoops up her things which have fallen out and finds her keys.

“Put the groceries in the car,” Stiles dad says. “I’ll take these ones on to the hospital. Do you know the Hale property?”

The deputy nods and seems to know what he’s doing because he starts unpacking the shopping trolley quickly before shutting the van door and returning the trolley to the parking lot trolley collection.  
By the time he heads back to the van and climbs into the driver’s seat, Stiles’ dad is encouraging Stiles, and by default the children who appear to be hanging off him, back towards the cruiser.

Noah is a bit heavier than Kelly, and living off noodles and a college student’s questionable diet hasn’t left Stiles swimming in muscle so he’s glad to sit in the backseat of the cruiser even if it looks like he’s a single father who’s being arrested.

They don’t really have the time to be strapping in the baby seats and everything even though it’s required by law and the hospital is really only a couple streets away so the sheriff decides to risk it without them.

The sheriff places the seat belt around Stiles and the two kids he’s holding and Jake, who is sitting in the middle seat manages to clip his own one in by himself. Stiles isn’t quite sure he could put the kids down without inciting world war three at the moment either. So maybe it’s for the best. The sheriff makes sure to drive slow anyhow.

Jake scoots up until his side is pressed up against Stiles and he knows what kind of sigh this must make in the revision mirror.

“Am I a dad now?” he wonders, in amazement, surrounded by a bunch of unfamiliar children and going a bit crazy with the novelty of it.

His father laughs. “I don’t think it quite works like that.”

Stiles would have to disagree, because it seems like he’s very good at it.

..............................................................................

Stiles is still holding two sleeping babies when the guy who must be Derek comes barging into the room. Not only does he look as tough as he’d sounded on the phone but he’s pretty much up on the same level as Laura, which is to say an unnaturally beautiful specimen. The only difference is he doesn’t dress like he knows it. 

But man oh man, is he something to look at anyway. Stiles would happily drop to his knees and suck him off any day.

He realises that’s probably not the greatest thing to be thinking right now, when he’s holding the guy’s kids, standing in the hospital room for the woman that is probably his wife. And for a horrifying second Stiles thinks the guy can read the thoughts on his face when he goes for Stiles straight away as if he’s holding some kind of weapon rather than two small children. He looks exactly like the kind of guy who could rip his head off.

And here Stiles is, standing there surrounded by his kids and basically looking like the most unwelcome interloper in the room. HotDad stomps forward until he’s right up in Stiles’ face, and his expression is terrifying enough to incite real, stomach clenching fear.

Stiles heart is already pounding away in his chest when the guy’s nostrils flare and his face twists up in astonishment.

“You’re...“ He starts and what the hell, is he sniffing Stiles too? His hands unclench and then clench again like he’s doing everything in his power not to reach out.

Either to rip his head off or kiss him stupid. It could go either way really.

Stiles has no idea what is happening, but it doesn’t exactly seem like Derek is planning on hurting the guy who brought his wife and kids to the hospital. He’s pretty sure.

“Daddy,” Jake crows, throwing an arm around Derek’s leg. “I found yours.”

Derek’s expression freezes and his entire body goes still like he’s finally figured out what Jake is talking about and Stiles is pretty tempted to ask himself because he has no idea.

Especially when Jake gestures at Stiles again like he’s trying to prove something. Stiles isn’t going to lie at the way his heart beats faster at the thought, but he’s pretty sure he would know if he was anything to the fine ass looking Derek, especially if it was a ‘yours’.

“Stiles, yeah,” he corrects, wondering if it’s just a weird family habit they share. The sniffing thing. “We spoke on the phone. You’re Derek right? And oh... um... I’m holding your kids, sorry.”

Derek’s expression looks complicated. “They’re not my kids. I’m their uncle.”

Stiles starts to frown. “Jake called you...“

“They live with me. He’s still young... he gets confused.”

Jake is tugging on Derek’s leg again. “Why won’t you sniff him?”

And now Stiles is really blushing.

Derek looks like he wants to cover Jake’s mouth with his hand. “Remember what we talked about. Keeping things in the family.”

“But he is family,” Jake insists, and Stiles wants to die of embarrassment because this kid wants his hot uncle to adopt Stiles or something and what is his life.

“We only just met, buddy,” Stiles tells him. “In the parking lot remember?”

Jake doesn’t seem to understand. “But...“

“How’s Laura?” Derek demands, turning his back on Stiles and looking like he needs to take a moment to calm down.

Oh. Stiles has to take a moment to draw his eyes away from Derek’s perfectly sculpted ass and remember that’s probably not appropriate. Not when Jake is standing nearby and watching him so closely. That kid will catch him out, Stiles knows for sure.

“She was awake a moment ago. The doctors said she’ll be fine, just an allergic reaction to whatever the hell powder those guys threw on her.”

“Allergic reaction,” Derek repeats through gritted teeth, like he doesn’t believe a word of it.

“Um- yeah. Can’t say it was a normal kind of reaction 'cause you guys don’t exactly seem very normal to me.”

Once he’s said it Stiles realises just how rude that was and Derek turns back to face him head on with a guarded look on his face. “Oh... uh I mean you know with the sniffing thing and the... the growling thing.”

His eyebrows move in surprise. “I didn’t growl at you.”

“No, um,” and Stiles is blushing now he just knows it. “Your kid... uh nephew did...Jake... at the cops. And my dad.”

“It’s okay though!” he insists at the look on Derek’s face and how Jake ducks his head. “I think he was just trying to protect his brother and sister.”

And me, Stiles thinks, but thankfully manages not to say. Somehow, he doesn’t think that Derek would like to know that. But he did already tell Derek that Stiles was ‘ours’ whatever the hell that was supposed to mean.

…..................................................................................

Laura’s eyes flutter open and this time when Derek approaches her bedside, Stiles approaches too.

“Hey bro,” she says as she catches sight of her kids and relaxes with a lazy grin. “Guess who got the jump on me?”

“It’s not funny Laura.”

“Who?” Stiles wonders, because he’s a curious beast at heart.

Laura looks at Stiles then, like she’s seeing him for the first time, and slowly inhales before turning sharply toward her brother. “Derek...“

“Shut up,” he says, and he kind of looks like he’s blushing a little and is furiously trying not to though Stiles has no idea what the hell is going on.

“You’re so unfair,” she mutters slumping back down into the pillows. “Here I am getting attacked with groceries on a perfectly normal day and you’re the one that ends up finding your mate...“

“Laura!” Derek snaps, silencing her and now Stiles really wants to know what they’re talking about.

“Your mate?” he repeats stupidly as Derek visibly tenses beside him. “Were you looking for a friend?”

“Oh my god,” Laura laughs after a beat of heavy silence. “Oh my god, you’re an idiot.”

Stiles flushes hotly at the words and Derek puts a hand to the bridge of his nose and looks like he wants to dive out the window.

“Hey I’m the one who came and rescued you, thank you very much. I’m a hero. Though I still don’t know why that purple stuff affected you and not me...”

“Alright I’ll give you that, you looked out for me and my family which I probably can never repay you for. But the rest... that’s cause I’m a werewolf.”

Stiles thinks she’s joking for a blip of a second until her eyes flash red and claws sprout from her fingers and then he is very much on board with the reality of the situation. The red eyes. The sniffing. The growling.

“You’re,” he says blankly. “You’re all....“

He glances down at the two kids in his arms and realises they’re not just regular children. They’re werewolf children, oh god. He glances down at Jake and his eyes flash gold.

“You couldn’t have waited until he put Noah and Kelly down?” Derek hisses, taking a step closer as if he’s expecting that Stiles is going to have the violent reaction here.

Stiles bristles at that. “Hey fuck you, you think I’m going to throw some kids just because they’re not human?”

And then he realises what he said. “Whoa- they’re not human? That’s awesome. What can you all do?”

Derek is looking at him like he grew two heads.

“Oh sorry,” he says. “Did you want them back? I’ve just been carrying them 'cause they couldn’t seem to settle down for anyone else.”

“I wonder why,” Laura says with a sly look in Derek’s direction.

“You- don’t care?” Derek asks, seeming like he’s having some earth shifting realisation. “You don’t mind that we’re not human?”

Stiles shrugs, wondering if it’s some kind of trick question. But they don’t seem like bad people. A little snarky maybe but who isn’t? “I mean I doubt you kill people cause my dad seems to be friendly with you. And like aside from that, why else would it really matter?”

“Wait...“ he says a second later. “Does my dad know about werewolves?”

Derek stiffly turns away and that’s pretty much the only answer Stiles’ needed. “Whoa this is like insane. Like the supernatural exists, and here you guys are doing shopping and drinking juice and stuff.”

Jake chooses that moment to slurp the remaining parts of his second juice box.

“We still do regular human things,” Derek says defensively. “We’re not freaks.”

“Of course not. So... what you’ve got enhanced senses, hearing, smell that kind of thing. What about strength? I bet you could just pick me right up and...“

Stiles trails off with a cough and tries not to look like his mind just went were it definitely did. There are children still present after all. But man, what would it be like having sex with a werewolf? Stiles would really like to know. Do some real 'in depth' research, nudge nudge wink wink?

“I think it’s time you gave me my kids back,” Laura says with a small degree of fondness and Stiles realises he’s still got Kelly and Noah in his arms. They fit there so easily he’d nearly forgotten about them.

“Oh,” he says, colouring, “Uh yeah sure.”

It’s awkward trying to pass off two kids at once so when he leans down to give her Kelly, Derek steps in closer and slides an arm under Noah to support him, anchoring another hand on the small of Stiles’ back. Heat flares up in his body at the surprise contact and it’s a herculean effort to keep his nether regions under control.

Things take a turn for the worse when he straightens up in surprise and Derek pushes back into his space to lift Noah free, and sort of ducks his head in the vicinity of Stiles’ neck.

And Stiles’ heartbeat might not be remotely steady, but he’s not an idiot.

“Did you just sniff me again?” he demands, when Derek steps back with Noah with him and turns down to place him in Laura’s other arm.

Jake is tugging at the side railing looking like he wants to get on the bed too, so Stiles automatically bends down to pick him up and deposits him somewhere around Laura’s knee.

“No,” Derek says a little too quickly in Stiles’ opinion.

He narrows his eyes. “Yes, you did.”

“He did,” Laura confirms with an entertained grin. “Absolutely.”

“Do I smell bad or something?” he half jokes before his brain catches up. “Hold on, Jake said I was ‘ours’ and then he said I was ‘yours’ and Laura used the word ‘mates’ and...“

Derek drops his gaze almost immediately and Stiles knows he’s thinking in the right direction. “Oh my god like as in animal kingdom? I’m your mate? Like as in wolves' mate for life kind of mate? Holy... uh cow,” he amends lamely, glancing at Jake who is listening keenly.

“Let’s- talk outside,” Derek says and ruffles Jake’s hair affectionately as he moves past. Stiles feels a spike of nerves but follows Derek out anyway.

“Look,” Derek says once the door is closed. “I know this is a lot to process at once...“

“You mean I was right?”

“You smell a little bit like me,” Derek explains. “Most wolves can tell other wolve's mates. Why do you think Laura’s kids trusted you straight away?”

Oh. So maybe Stiles isn’t a baby whisperer after all. Just a Hale whisperer. 

“That’s... wow,” Stiles says, reaching out and touching Derek’s chest unthinkingly.

Derek makes this yielding sound at the touch, softness stealing into his face and he looks overwhelmed for a second.

“Oh my god,” Stiles babbles. “This is true? I actually have a chance with you?”

He can’t believe someone as hot as Derek would even look his way. Stiles didn’t even shower this morning he was so busy working on his thesis. He’s got huge debt and a crappy job and a small circle of friends. Stiles is aware he isn’t much of a catch.

Derek looks at him like he might be wrong about that though.

“More like you already won the race,” Derek admits, and there’s an endearing flush to his skin now that makes Stiles feel a little giddy.

“Do you want to go on a date?” he blurts out, unable to tear his eyes away from Derek’s face. What kind of supermodel parents must he have for them to have created this masterpiece?

“I mean with me,” Stiles clarifies, feeling like the biggest dumbass on the planet.

Derek reaches down and brushes against Stiles’ hand which he still hasn’t pulled away from Derek’s chest. The thrill that gives him is better than any kind of outcome he would have expected from today.

Derek wants to go on a date with him. Stiles, unwashed indebted college pleeb, living off noodles and whatever coins he can scrape together from his living room, Stiles. This has got to be like winning some kind of lottery.

“Oh no,” Stiles realises, with a sinking feeling. “I left the two minute noodles I bought in the parking lot.”

Derek strokes his hand along Stiles’ knuckles and he shivers at the touch. “College student huh?”

“Working on my thesis,” Stiles agrees with a grin, twisting his hand and catching at Derek’s thumb, linking their fingers together.

Stiles doesn’t know much about this guy, but he wants to. And so far, they’re off to a great start.

“So-,” he says trying to sound casual. “Uh, wanna make out a little?”

Derek looks at him like he can’t quite figure Stiles out but then he smiles and leans in. Stiles is full of astonishment that it was that easy but then their mouths are meeting and it’s hot and perfect and Stiles can’t help but groan when Derek drops his hand from around Stiles’ and puts one onto his hip against the small of his back.

When he reels Stiles in closer he lets himself be moved and presses in with a stunned sigh, wrapping his arms around Derek’s neck, pushing his fingers into his surprisingly soft hair.

His heart is trying to beat itself out of its chest and he can feel exactly how affected the both of them are. It turns out making out with a werewolf is awesome.

Derek jerks back with a heavy gasp, and struggles for a moment to get his shit together. Stiles might be a little offended if he didn’t see how blown Derek’s pupils were or the wild-eyed look on his face.

When Stiles leans back he needs to adjust his pants, and it’s not remotely subtle and the fact that Derek swallows heavily at the action only makes him more excited.

Jesus, Stiles should go shopping during the day more often.

“I’ll cook you dinner at my place,” Derek suggests, like he knows Stiles probably hasn’t had access to a balanced meal in a long time.

Oh man, Stiles is in real danger of falling in love here.

“I’ll be there.”


End file.
